If you're a Steam member, you've already heard about it, I'm sure. If you're not, & you love the Half-Life game & are looking forward to HL2, you'll be interested to know that Steam members are starting to get their pre-loads.

"Half-Life 2 pre-loading begins to Steam account holders today. Over the coming days, those who have selected the pre-loading option will have encrypted Half-Life 2 files delivered to their PC. No purchase is required to pre-load HL2, but is required to activate the game."